First up from The God Machine this week is the ongoing religio-political discussion about a Mormon presidential candidate. Al Sharpton clearly seemed to cross the line this week when he said, “As for the one Mormon running for office, those who really believe in God will defeat him anyways, so don’t worry about that; that’s […]
A handful of books about atheism will not destroy religion
Guest Post by Morbo Much to my surprise, books critical of religion having been selling well lately. Sam Harris’ two books, “The End of Faith” and “Letter to a Christian Nation,” have hit the best-sellers list along with Richard Dawkins’ “The God Delusion.” The publishing industry, eager to ride this boomlet, is giving book contracts […]
Dear Diary: Well, I’m leader of the free world!
Guest Post by Morbo Every few weeks, I get a catalog from a firm in Connecticut that sells books that have been remaindered. It’s printed on newsprint in tiny type but is always worth poring over because, while most of the offerings are dross, gems do lurk within. One thing I’ve learned from years of […]
Housekeeping note
I alluded briefly yesterday to something interesting going on today. Sorry for being cryptic. The “news” is that Josh Marshall has asked me to help out at Talking Points Memo on weekends, and today’s my first day. It’s an exciting opportunity to contribute to one of the blogs that inspired me to start this site […]
Friday’s Mini-Report
Today’s edition of quick hits. * AP: “A federal judge approved an immunity deal Friday allowing former Justice Department aide Monica Goodling to testify before Congress about the firing of eight federal prosecutors. Goodling, who served as the department’s White House liaison, has refused to discuss the firings without a guarantee that she will not […]
CBS responds to Batiste dismissal
Following up on an earlier item, CBS News yesterday fired Major Gen John Batiste (Ret.), former commanding general of the first infantry division in Iraq, 48 hours after he appeared in a television ad criticizing the president’s war policy. This afternoon, ThinkProgress spoke with Linda Mason, CBS News’ vice president for Standards and Special Projects, […]
They still haven’t learned the lessons of the Culture of Corruption
After all the scandals and corruption-related difficulties congressional Republicans have experienced the past few years, you’d think they’d eventually learn a few lessons. Especially after having lost both chambers of Congress, the GOP leadership on the Hill could use this opportunity to clean up their self-created mess and start demonstrating to voters that they care […]
‘The President bears the major part of the burden’
Dick Cheney sat down with Fox News’ Bret Baier yesterday for a fairly lengthy interview, focused almost exclusively on the Middle East and the war in Iraq. There were a few interesting exchanges, but this was my favorite: QUESTION: You are portrayed by your opponents and some in the media as this sinister figure, as […]
The wrong spin on the ‘unvarnished’ chat
Yesterday, we learned that the 11 House Republicans met with the president and his senior aides at the White House this week for an “unvarnished” conversation about the administration’s war policy in Iraq. Various media accounts of the 90-minute meeting suggested that the GOP lawmakers are nervous about what the war is going to do […]
CBS quickly fired Gen. Batiste for criticizing Bush war policy
When Don Imus called the Rutgers’ women’s basketball team “nappy-headed hos,” it took two weeks and a national uproar before CBS decided to fire him. In contrast, Major Gen John Batiste (Ret.), former commanding general of the first infantry division in Iraq, appears in a new television ad criticizing the president’s war policy. Just 48 […]